North Sikkim - Part I - Lachen and Gurudongmar

Our trip to North Sikkim started from Gangtok at around 11am as the travel agent took an U-turn at the end moment giving the booking to another Travels. Since we were already late for the journey, we continued our tour without much objections to the sudden change of events.

There are two popular places in North Sikkim that most people travel to, Lachen and Lachung both being remote villages at high altitudes. Lachen is the gateway to the magnificent Gurudongmar Lake whereas Lachung is used as a stop over for visiting Yumthang Valley and Zero Point. We had planned one night at Lachen and one night at Lachung and Lachen was our destination for the day. We stopped near one of the restaurants in Mangan at around 1:30 pm to have lunch and then resumed our journey towards Lachen. The lunch was very basic with rice, dal, veg curry and tomato chutney for vegetarians and an additional egg curry for non vegetarians, but was good enough to satisfy our grumbling stomachs. Even though the road condition is bad all the way to North Sikkim, it becomes worse after Mangan with big potholes everywhere and the rains added to the woo by making the muddy road slippery. Looking at the road I was just wondering how people come in packed shared vehicles in such pathetic road conditions. It is advisable to travel to North Sikkim in group as the best of vehicles may betray on the way due to horrible road condition and you might get stranded for a long time. We found one vehicle breaking down on the way back from North Sikkim and it was waiting for help to arrive for almost 4 hours. As we moved farther the road kept ascending higher and the hills seemed to come closer. The road was quite scary at some places as it was narrow and a small mistake could have landed the vehicle several feet down. But thanks to our driver who had expertise in driving in the hills and finally dropped us at our destination safely.

There were some waterfalls on the way to North Sikkim, but we stopped only at two waterfalls as we wanted to reach Lachen before nightfall. The journey all thorugh was so beautiful that we felt like stopping at places and taking some pics, but the narrow roads did not allow to do so as it would have blocked the way for other vehicles. So we tried to capture the beautiful view of the green mountains and valleys through our eyes and kept moving towards our destination. The journey took around 8 hours because of the road condition as well as the stoppage due to a landslide on the way and by the time we reached Lachen it was dark everywhere and the cold had grown stronger. We reached our hotel at around 7:30 pm and were greeted by hot coffee by the staff. Since the staff were very busy with guests, the services were a little delayed and we had to ask for things twice/thrice to different people. But they never seemed to be irritated by constant requests from the guests for warm water, towel or coffee. The hot coffee provided great relief from the biting cold and after relaxing for some time, we had our dinner and went to bed. 

Queue of vehicles near a waterfall

A Beautiful Vista

Vehicles waiting due to landslide

Since Lachen is a very remote place in a hilly terrain, so the hotels and homestays here provide very basic amenities and food. You wont find a television set or internet facility here, even there won't be any mobile network. But they provide geyser, warm drinking water and room heater [on demand for a nominal charge of 200 or so depending on availability] which you would require in a cold place like this.Food will mostly have simple rice, dal and veg curry/fry for vegeterians and egg/chicken for non-vegetarians, but it will be tasty. So if you are looking for a luxurious and comfortable holiday, then this is definitely not the place for you. But if you love nature and want to spend some time away from the maddening crowd of the city, then do come here once.

Lachen Village

River Teesta on the way to Lachen

After constant demotivating words from our driver like there would be no ice at Gurudongmar, the journey is very tiresome, kids cant make it to the place [seeing a 4 year kid in our group] etc, the family with us had almost given up. But thanks to our strong determination which stayed unaffected and we decided to visit Gurudongmar Lake come what may. Seeing his efforts going futile he instructed us to get ready exactly at 4am if we wanted to visit the lake. We set the alarm at 3:30am and went to bed feeling excited about the next day.

I woke up to the sound of rain and it was already 4 am by then. Somehow the alarm did not ring that day and it was the 2nd time my phone's alarm had betrayed me in a crucial time. It was dark everywhere and the sound of heavy rain turned me skeptical about the success of the trip. Electricity had already went off and we had to manage with the little warm water left in the geyser to complete the morning chores. In the month of May which is considered as summer month, we were not able to wash our hands in normal water as it was ice cold and needed at least 2 blankets and a bed comforter to sleep. So I was just wondering how people manage here in winter months when water freezes inside the pipes. After having a cup of hot tea we embarked on our journey to Gurudongmar lake. The rain had vanished by then and many vehicles had started with us even though it was still dark outside. Gradually as morning light grew stronger the beauty of Lachen unfolded in front of us and I was just thinking how such a beautiful place looked so scary after nightfall the previous day.

A beautiful view near Lachen

The ride to Gurudongmar was bumpy with almost non existent roads where you need to trust the driver and hold on firmly. But at the same time the spectacular view all around will keep your mind distracted from the rough ride. After a few minutes of ride we got the first glimpse of a snow capped mountain and we became confident to find some ice at Gurudongmar too. The meandering road passed through beautiful green valleys, colourful trees, high mountains and many wild flowers and moreover river Teesta followed us all through our journey. When our eyes were glued to the beauty of the surrounding, our driver stopped at Thangu for breakfast. Thangu is a small village at 14000 feet surrounded by snow capped mountains. I won't say it was a restaurant, but it was a small hut with some local people serving bread and egg, maggi, thupka and hot tea/coffee in breakfast. But the hot maggi of Sikkim deserves a special mention which tastes extra delicious in such chilling weather and I am telling you I never enjoyed eating maggi so much anytime before. After having breakfast we bought some hand gloves, water bottles and chocolates from the nearby shops and resumed our journey towards the lake.

1st view of snow clad peaks

Near Thangu

A beautiful valley near Thangu

Purple flowers everywhere

A closer look at the purple flower

After a few kilometers from Thangu, the greenery started disappearing and more army camps and barren mountains came in to view. By the time we reached the army camp to obtain permits, it started snowing and my joy knew no bounds as it was the 1st snowfall I ever experienced in my life. When it was getting difficult for me to stand the cold even for a few minutes, I was amazed to see the army men staying in such a remote place in such acute weather conditions to ensure safety of the countrymen. This filled a sense of pride in me for being an Indian and my heart saluted the big heroes who actually stay awake at the border to let us sleep peacefully at our homes. There is an army run canteen in this area where you can get tea, coffee and some other snacks and toilet facilities are available too. After getting our permit documents we started moving again and as we moved further it started snowing heavily and gradually everything around us turned in to white. The barren land looked like a snow desert and yaks grazing in between made the place look like an artist's exquisite delineation. We kept taking pictures mesmerized by the splendor of the place and in no time there we were at 17000 feet near one of the highest and magnificent lakes in the world. Even though visibility was very poor at the lake due to snowfall, partial view of the surreal lake surrounded by snow covered mountains was enough to take our breaths away. The water of Gurudongmar Lake is considered very sacred and so many people climbed down from the upper surface to touch the water of the lake. There is a small temple named Sarv Dharm Sthal on the upper side of the lake and the colorful prayer flags all around make the place look even more divine.

Near Army Camp

The road after the army camp

Grazing Yak

River Teesta on the way to the lake

We left the place in few minutes as it grew colder due to the snowfall and our hands were freezing even inside the gloves, but none of us had any serious breathing problem either on the way or at the lake. We had a 4 year kid in our group and he made it to the lake quite nicely with a little vomitting on the way. So it is absolutely safe to visit the place with medicines handy and heavy winter clothes as it is cold all round the year for its altitude and the weather too is unpredictable. Do visit this lake once as this will be one of the best experiences of your life and no camera or words can ever capture or describe the beauty of the place as it is seen with the eyes.

Sarv Dharm Sthal Near Gurudongmar Lake

Partial view of Gurudongmar lake

On the way back

Snow Everywhere

I felt a little uneasy on the way back from the lake and the chocolates carried from Thangu helped me get comfortable. The return journey took around 4 hours and by the time we reached Lachen it had started raining again. It was time for us to check out from the hotel and move towards Lachung. After having lunch we took a stroll in Lachen village and visited a monastery on a hill top, but were disappointed to find it closed after a tough climb. People working at the monastery informed us that it opens only once in a week and remains closed all other time. So we took a few pics and came back to our hotel to start for Lachung.The journey from Lachen to Lachung took around 4 hours and we checked in to the hotel at around 7:30pm. We had dinner and went to bed early as the long hours of traveling had already sucked all he energy out of us.